§ Mr. Chopeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will make a statement on the future of the National Health Service computer policy committee and the steering group on health services information.
§ Mr. John PattenWe have been reviewing the management of the work which needs to be done centrally on management information and information technology for NHS hospital and community health services. As soon as the NHS managment board is in place, we propose to strengthen arrangements at the centre in two main ways.
First, the NHS computer policy committee and the steering group on health services information will be wound up and replaced by a single information advisory group. The new group will be chaired by the member of the board who is responsible for information matters. It will have no executive responsibilities, but will be asked to advise the board on strategic issues and management priorities in the information field. We are consulting regional health authorities on the membership of the group, which will consist primarily of senior managers from regions and districts.
Secondly, the work which needs to be done at the centre will be brought under the direct control of the management board, through the same board member. A substantial proportion of this work will continue to be undertaken by health authority staff.
I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the considerable achievements of the computer policy committee and the steering group on health services information.